The cloak and dagger style of governance by the ANC in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and its refusal to come clean about corruption is costing the city jobs and investment. The ANC prefers to keep the door closed on the Kabuso- and Pikoli reports into corruption. It also refuses to open bid adjudications tender committees because it wants benefits to go only to the connected few, rather than distributing opportunities to all.

Poor communities are particularly hard hit by corruption as it is the thief of opportunity. It is costing us R30 billion a year nationally.

The resolutions of the infamous Kabuso report, which implicated officials and high-ranking politicians in fraudulent activities, are yet to be implemented, five years later.

The Pikoli forensic report, which highlighted millions of Rands that was meant for the city’s new bus system, but which was squandered on things such as a music festival that never took place, has been removed from the council agenda three times.

The DA would like to remind the ANC and voters in NMBM of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s national treasury circular to all municipalities, warning that grant funding would be withheld if forensic reports are not dealt with.

The ANC obviously thinks its members are above the law and seems hell-bent on ignoring the legislative requirements of these reports.

The ANC has a golden opportunity to garner some trust from businesses and investors in the city, by making tender committee meetings to be open to the public like in the City of Cape Town. However, the DA’s motion on this issue has been shot down in flames. A transparent tender process will cut corruption and expand job opportunities for all. It is the right thing to do.

Under the DA’s leadership the City of Cape Town has opened up tender committee meetings to the public. All contract results are also posted on the council website. This means that corruption cannot take root in DA governments, because we build accountability into the system, making our decisions open to public scrutiny.

The only way to stop the rot and turn this Metro around is by bringing the corruption to an end.

A DA-governed Nelson Mandela Bay will redress the legacy of apartheid and bring real change by creating the right climate for economic growth.